JUNE 2020 • W ATER LOG 40:2 3 The Law of the Turtle Kristina Alexander Credit: Theophilos Papadopoulos Background in many species. Turtles keep their shells for their lifetime. A turtle is unlike anything else. It has legs and a shell, and It is not an exoskeleton; they still have a skeletal system. it gets along in almost every habitat, except extreme cold, Turtles have natural predators, and they are at the most and nobody blames it for that. The term turtle, despite risk when they are small. Their biggest threat is from what your neighbor might tell you, can mean shelled humans. Some of the threats to sea turtles include being creatures living on land and sea, although some land caught in fishing gear, having their beach nesting sites turtles are further distinguished by being called tortoises eliminated by development, and dying from trash in the and some aquatic (or semi-aquatic) turtles are called terrapins. ocean. Land turtles risk being sold for pets, getting killed by They are all reptiles, although sea turtles (loggerhead, cats, being shot for target practice, and being killed by habitat leatherback, green turtle, hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley, olive change – such as from pollution or damming rivers. ridley, and flatback) spend most of their lives swimming, A raft of laws protects turtles from human threats. while desert tortoises, for example, spend most of their Federal laws run the gamut of limiting sale of turtles to lives far from water bodies. requiring certain shrimping vessels to use devices to allow A turtle shell is more properly called carapace for the top sea turtles to escape from nets. State laws describe rules part, plastron for underneath. The divisions on the carapace on capturing and keeping turtles for personal and are called scutes. Like the boat part of the same name, the keel commercial use, including which turtles are so at risk of is the ridge that runs vertically along the top of the carapace extinction that no capture is allowed. 4JUNE 2020 • W ATER LOG 40:2 Alabama Law Mississippi Law Both Alabama and Mississippi allow people to catch The Mississippi regulatory structure is similar to turtles that are not federally or state protected. Turtles that Alabama’s except it puts more limits on the number of are not protected species fall into the category of turtles people may take or possess, and it has larger fines. nongame wildlife. Under Mississippi wildlife regulations turtles fall into the Alabama turtle regulations use terms seldom found category of nongame species in need of management. elsewhere, like “turtle farmer” and “nuisance turtle.” A The names of Mississippi nongame turtles do not turtle farmer needs a license to raise turtles for sale – as disappoint. The list includes the chicken turtle and the pets or food. A nuisance turtle is not doing anything stinkpot. In general, only licensed hunters or fishers may different than a regular turtle but is called a nuisance when catch nongame turtles for personal use, and there are it interferes with humans fishing. Turtles tend to cluster limits on quantity depending on species. For example, around fish feeders in aquaculture ponds, or grab lines only one alligator snapping turtle per person. Turtles may stealing bait meant for fish, but overall, they do not harm not be taken to be sold or traded, or raised for sale. fish, and they improve the quality of the water body they Catching or possessing turtles that do not fall into the call home. And so it is a crime in Alabama for anybody category of nongame species in need of management, other than a permitted turtle farmer to take a nuisance requires a permit in Mississippi. Those turtles include turtle, no matter how annoying. four sea turtles: green, hawksbill, Kemp’s/Atlantic ridley, The state limits the number of turtles a person can and leatherback; three map turtles: yellow-blotched, catch for personal purposes to two a day. However, the black-knobbed, and ringed; the Alabama red-belly turtle; turtles may not be trapped. They can be captured only by and the gopher tortoise. hand, dip net or hook and line. Breaking these rules can For any violations of the laws protecting nongame in lead to a $100 fine. Additionally, certain turtles may not be need of management turtles (i.e. not the protected captured in any quantity. Those are: turtles), there is a $2,000-$5,000 fine, with an optional 4 • Diamondback terrapin additional fine of $100 per turtle. • Gopher tortoise • Alabama red-bellied turtle Federal Law Protecting Turtles at Risk of Extinction • All map turtles The federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protects all • Flattened musk turtle sea turtles found in Alabama and Mississippi waters and • Alligator snapping turtle shores. Additionally, the ESA protects four other turtles • Razor-backed musk turtle found in Mississippi and Alabama (T means threatened, • Any turtle protected under federal law. 1 and E, endangered): yellow-blotched map turtle (T); ringed map turtle (T); Alabama red-bellied turtle (E); and The flattened musk turtle, endemic to Alabama (meaning flattened musk turtle (T). it is found only there), demonstrates it is good to have friends Under the ESA it is illegal to catch, harm, sell, possess, in high places. What makes the flattened musk turtle special is harass, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or that it has its own state law imposing a $5,000 fine for collect, or attempt to do any of those things with any harming it. 2 The state fine is 50 times higher for taking a endangered species. These actions are referred to as “takes” flattened musk turtle than for taking any other nongame in ESA-talk. A knowing violation can lead to a criminal turtles. It is also protected under the federal Endangered penalty of up to $100,000. 5 By “knowing,” the law does Species Act. not mean that the person knows that a particular turtle was The nongame list of protected reptiles does not include a protected species before stomping on its eggs, for example, sea turtles, but Alabama state law still prohibits their capture. but that the person knew he was stomping on eggs. Alabama has separate rules for what they call “marine or salt In addition, the ESA makes it illegal to harm the water turtles.” 3 It is illegal to “take, catch, molest or [possess]” habitat of a listed species if that damage disturbs the sea turtles. The penalty under state law is $100. eating, mating, or nesting habits of the species. Also, JUNE 2020 • W ATER LOG 40:2 5 federal agencies must consider alternatives to programs The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and actions that would adversely affect designated critical addressed sea turtle protection in 2018 when it revised the habitat of listed species. Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for reef fish, which Threatened species, which include green and include red snapper. FMPs are reviewed under the ESA to loggerhead sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, are see if they are likely to jeopardize the continued existence protected to the same extent as endangered species unless of listed species, such as sea turtles. This review results in a special rule is put in place. For example, there is a a Biological Opinion (BiOp) assessing the risk to the Special Rule for green sea turtles in the Gulf. Under that species by the proposed federal plan. In 2005 a BiOp was rule it is not considered a “take” of a green turtle if it is issued for the reef fish FMP, finding that sea turtles are incidentally caught in fishing gear, 6 meaning while fishing incidentally caught in the lines while reef fishing, but that for something else a turtle is caught by accident. There are the FMP did not jeopardize the continued existence of no special rules for loggerhead sea turtles or any of the any sea turtle species. The BiOp included measures for listed land turtles in Alabama and Mississippi. the fishery to take to increase survival rates of sea turtles. Accordingly, the FMP requires specialized gear to limit Federal Law Limiting Incidental Sea Turtle Capture the harm to turtles caught by accident. Those measures As mentioned above, sea turtles are federally protected were updated in 2008, 2010, and 2018. The 2018 changes under the ESA, which makes injuring or killing them include using a collapsible hoop net, dehooking device, illegal, even if done without intending to hurt them. and small turtle hoist, and they required pliers of at least When fishing catches animals other than what was being 11” to release hooked sea turtles. The hoop net is used to fished for, it is known as bycatch. The Magnuson-Stevens haul aboard turtles that are caught on the lines so that the Fishery Conservation and Management Act (the Magnuson - fishing gear can be removed from the turtle on deck. Stevens Act) requires regional fisheries to establish a bycatch Some of the more surprising additional gear for vessels reduction program. 7 Fishery Management Plans developed using longlines include a tire to rest any snagged turtle on by eight regional councils around the United States while the hook is extracted and two sturdy nylon dog consider bycatch reduction for each fishery. While the bones to keep the turtle’s mouth open. 11 When an injured amount of bycatch is hotly debated, longline fisheries turtle is “boated,” among other procedures, fishers must contribute to sea turtle deaths. According to one study, attempt resuscitation for 4-24 hours. 12 those rates could be reduced two to three times by the use Longline fisheries are not the only fishery posing a of a circle hook rather than a J-hook (which refers to the risk of sea turtle bycatch.